


Not Yet

by Princessfbi



Series: Not You [1]
Category: Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Being a kid has it's limits, Boundaries, Even with superpowers, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt/Comfort, Parent-Child Dynamics, Tony Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, implied minor character death, post homecoming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-19
Updated: 2017-07-19
Packaged: 2018-12-04 02:55:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11546016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Princessfbi/pseuds/Princessfbi
Summary: “What do you want to do, Tony? Sooner or later you’re going to have to make a choice between team mate and parent. You’re not going to be able to bench him forever.”“I’d prefer if he finished high school first. Maybe a little bit of college.”





	Not Yet

The last person’s face that Tony wanted to see in that moment was Steve Rogers. And yet, there he stood in all his patronizing holier than thou concern that had Tony coiling and uncoiling his fingers into tight fists.

The very small, very calm, very Pepper sounding rational part of his brain realized that it wasn’t all Steve’s fault. He understood that Cap hadn’t injured the kid to the point of needing so many drugs to put down an adult elephant as the medics re-broke his bones. He got that. He did. On a scale measure, it was about 10% not Steve’s fault.

The other 90% was completely Steve’s fault.

And there he was, all concerned and worried and standing outside of the infirmary like some kind of scared parent that got a phone call saying Peter had gotten hurt goofing off with his friends.

Tony also knew that if he physically attacked Steve, Peter would be disappointed and somewhere along the line of the whole adopting the teenager after yet another tragic event in his life and trying to step in the big shoes that belonged to May, Tony actually cared about that. So, he tried to be the better man that Peter thought he was and shouldered past Steve to go see the others. The rest of the team was nursing their own hurts in the sitting room, lounging on the stylish grey furniture and jumping to attention when they saw him.

For the moment, he was going to let it go. Steve on the other hand never seemed to know when no one actually wanted to hear his voice.

“How is he?” Steve asked, already bracing himself for the worst.

That was about all the patience level that Tony could muster.

“Let’s just get one thing straight here,” Tony said, whirling around on Steve. “He is my kid. And when I say that he’s benched, he’s benched.”

“He’s a member of the team, Tony---“

“No, he isn’t!” The absolute venom in Tony’s voice forced Steve to take a step back.

“Is he going to be ok?” Wanda asked, guilt causing her to curl in on herself. She was convinced that she should've caught him. 

Tony sniffed and slipped his mask of control on over the ugly truth that was on the tip of his tongue.

“He will be,” Tony said, turning to them. “In time and after a serious amount of pain. Most of the minor gashes have healed and the major ones are in the process of healing. The rest we’ll just have to see.”

Tony couldn’t help himself.

“No thanks to the good ol’ American hero over here.”

Clint stood abruptly and shook his head. “I’m not going to sit here and listen to you two fight again. I’ll be in with the kid.”

Clint didn’t wait and limped into the infirmary leaving the rest stuck in a humid uncomfortable fermentation. No one knew what to do. Their reunion was still too new and the distrust and hurt feelings was still too present for any of them to know how to find a solution to ease the heat.

Typically, it was Steve that tried to, ironically, break the ice.

“I gave him a choice.”

“He’s fifteen years old, he doesn’t get a choice.”

“I think he’s old enough to decide on his own---”

“First of all, you are not his parent so you don’t get a vote and second of all, you come from a time where children lied about how old they were to die in a _fucking_ war!”

The team froze at Tony’s shout. This wasn’t the first time Steve and Tony got under each other’s skin but there was something so enraged in Tony’s tone that it threw them all into the dangerous murky water of an impulsive anger driven Tony Stark. The last time that'd happened he'd almost brought down a whole building on top of himself, Steve, and Barnes.

Steve, ever so patience Steve, seemed more confused than offended. Like he was actually trying to understand Tony’s point. “How is this any different? I asked him---”

“That’s exactly it, Cap. Don’t you get it? You _asked_ him. He’s not going to say no to you because for some unknown reason he idolizes you and you knew that.” All the color drained from Steve’s face and Tony knew he’d finally found the opening in the armor where he could jab until he bruised. “He’s a kid. He’s not a soldier. Superpowers or not he’s still a goddamn kid.”

No one said anything. Tony, honestly, wasn’t even sure if they were still there. Peter had been a superhero for only a little over a year. And even if he could climb up walls and take out five guys against one, he still was a kid who would seek approval like it was water in the desert.

And deep down he knew Steve cared. And everyone toyed the line between respecting Peter enough as a hero capable of handling himself in a fight and underestimating him because of his age. But sometimes they all forgot that despite everything… as a kid, he still had his limits.

It was the first time Peter would've been in a fight since May had died. It was his first fight with an opponent that wasn’t from their world. It was his first time on what was close to the scale of New York eight years ago. And Tony had made a decision that Peter wasn’t ready because if there was one thing he’d learned in the short time of being a parent, it was that sometimes you had to be the bad guy.

“I would never intentionally put him in harm’s way,” Steve said, stricken.

“And yet he’s lying on a cot in the infirmary.” He knew the words would sting and he didn't care.

Jesus, the kid almost didn’t make it to his sixteenth birthday. The thought almost took Tony out at the knees. He nearly hyperventilated into sitting down because the room started to swim a little.

He closed his eyes but all he could see was that thing lifting Peter’s limp body up by the throat and throwing him like he weighed nothing. Tony pushed his knuckles into the corners of his eyes until white dots danced into his vision.

Sure, he wasn’t the greatest father figure. He certainly didn’t have a lot of sources to pull from. Peter and him had nearly gotten into a fight when he broke the news to him before the mission. The kind of fight where they both accused each other of things and hated themselves at the end. A fight that was close to what had happened when he’d taken Peter’s suit away after the ferry.

But he would’ve taken the fight--- anything--- over this. He would’ve had Peter hating him for a week than having to sit there and remember the sound Peter’s body had made when it hit the ground.

And the others hadn’t been there when Peter had finally, after months of fake smiles and countless nights of reckless web slinging, had broken down in Tony’s workshop after Tony had asked him if he wanted Thai. They weren’t there to remember like Tony did of what the kid had been like when everything was normal and happy.

And he knew the kid loved Cap. Maybe it was some part of him that was jealous over the sway Steve had on him. But that couldn’t change the fact that Tony was just so _pissed off_ and… and scared. He didn’t know if he could go through these feelings every time the kid got hurt.

He realized that the others had left him alone at some point and now the lights in the facility had dimmed. He pushed his way into the infirmary because even though he was bone tired, he knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep. He found Peter’s room and succeeded in not falling into another panic attack by just looking at the kid, all black and blue, lying peacefully in the bed.

Clint had one leg propped up on Peter’s night stand and an old ice pack curled around his wrist.

“What do you want to do, Tony? Sooner or later you’re going to have to make a choice between team mate and parent. You’re not going to be able to bench him forever.”

“I’d prefer if he finished high school first. Maybe a little bit of college.”

Clint snorted at Tony’s flippancy and stood up, giving him the chair.

“I’m going to get some sleep,” he muttered. “Night Tony.”

Tony didn’t bother to respond and Clint didn’t wait for one. He settled into the chair and watched as Peter’s chest rose and fell. He’d let Peter pick his own battles some day.

“Not yet, kid,” he said, dropping his hand to rest of Peter’s wrist. “Just not yet.”


End file.
